


Call Or Delete

by watfordslarry



Category: One Direction
Genre: M/M, call or delete, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 12:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7758232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watfordslarry/pseuds/watfordslarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"uhm, uh, hello? is this really harry?"</p><p>"yeah," </p><p>or where louis and harry drift away after louis gets eliminated off the xfactor, but nick grimshaw decides to play call or delete and harry lands on a certain boys number that he just can't delete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "uhm, uh, hello? is this really harry?"
> 
> "yeah," 
> 
> or where louis and harry drift away after louis gets eliminated off the xfactor, but when nick grimshaw decides to play call or delete, harry lands on a certain boys number that he just can't delete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have just found out (a day after posting this story) that there are other versions of this story on ao3. There's even one that is way to similar to this one, which makes me nervous because people might think I stole the idea but I didn't even know there was another version! I didn't steal ANYONES idea I promise with all my heart, I'm not someone to do that bc if someone did that to me I would be crushed. I knew there HAD to be a few "call or delete" au's out there but I didn't know that there was one just like mine. I honest to god saw a tweet that said "someone write a larry call or delete au pls thanks" so I was like OOOOO I WANT TO DO IT!!!
> 
> So, I wrote this months ago but I had just posted it yesterday (8/13/16) simply because I just haven't been on ao3 in a while. I promise I didn't steal this idea, even if there are other ones like this one, this story is entirely mine and originally made from my brain.

****harry styles. one out of four members of the well known band called one direction. the other three, liam payne, niall horan, and zayn malik.

the four of them all auditioned for the xfactor in 2010. besides liam two years before that, but thank god he didn't make his mark that year or else they would be nothing. after all, he was a very important part of the group. they all were.

when auditions came around, harry became a nervous wreck. the only time he had performed was with his little band back at cheshire. white eskimo, they were called. though singing in front of one hundred people is different than maybe more than one thousand.

one thousand was a lot in little harry's mind.

so, nerves got the best of him, and he made a quick dash to the toilets. at first, he went right to the counter, looking into the mirror and sighing, running his hands over his face repeatedly. he didn't usually get like that, which was why he was so nervous, his heart beating out of his chest.

the boy went to the urinals, quickly doing his thing. what startled him was the flush of a toilet. he jumped a little, gasping. he must've been a bit too shaky that day.

"oops!" he zipped his pants back up, hands covering his mouth.

the boy next to him sighed heavily, doing the same, "hi," he pursed his lips, "that was awkward," he said, kicking his one shoe off.

then harry felt bad. like when your mum finds out that you snuck out bad. also, he's going on in almost less than five minutes. so that doesn't help at all.

"oh god, i'm really sorry!" he exclaimed, his hands coming up to the sides of his face. he tugs his beanie down a bit, fingers gripping the material. because he's never _pissed_ on someone's shoe before. so how would he know what to do?

"it's fine. it was only a tiny bit on the back. didn't even touch me," the boy said, tugging his shoe back on. he stumbled a bit from having to stand on one foot, and harry jumped in, grabbing his biceps to steady him.

"oi, oops," the boy chuckled, stomping his foot back down.

harry smirked, "hi," he told him, the little shit he is.

"jesus christ, are you going to make that your thing or something now? just cause we both said it?" the boy asked, smiling a bit with the roll of his eyes. "never mind actually. don't answer that. uh, what's your name?"

"harry," he grins, "i'm actually going- shit, uh, i have to go, i-i'm going on in like... now kind of," he rushes, backing up a little with his eyes focused on the taller boy.

"wait!" he steps forward, grabbing harry's arm, "give me your number, i'll give you mine real quick," he says quickly, whipping out his phone. and harry stumbles to do the same because not only is he in a rush, but this insanely cute by whom's shoe he wizzed on wants his number, meaning he _could_ just like boys too.

so what is said goes. they exchange numbers, and harry shouts another "sorry for your shoe" while running out of he bathroom. and yeah, it earns a few strange looks from people backstage, but harry just got a boys number, so he doesn't care.

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊

he had spoken of it before. the terrible mishap of him pissing on another boys shoe on accident. it was quite the topic back when he was on the xfactor. especially when simon decided to bring it up during one of the one on one sessions that was put on the air. it was the most embarrassing things.

harry found out after he sang and got accepted that the boy named louis was also auditioning. he almost smacked himself as well since he was blind enough not to see the giant number taped to his shirt.

he spoke to louis only a couple times more. though if sneaky glances and touches and goofy faces counted then he would be grateful to say they talked a lot.

sadly it didn't last.

neither of them made it.

a whole group of boys were sent home. them included. and yes, ten minutes later they started calling names. harry styles, niall horan, liam payne, zayn malik... but no louis. his voice wasn't strong enough, they said. too high pitched, they said. which was absolute bullshit to the curly haired boy since he thought louis' voice was just so _unique_ and amazing.

harry and those boys were put into a group. louis was sent home.

they had never seen each other since then. harry was too scared to text or call him, not knowing if he was mad at him for making it instead. he felt bad.

harry didn't know that louis was back at his school, rushing around with getting caught back up and getting uni applications in on time. louis didn't forget about him, no. he just wanted harry to text first. he also didn't want to distract him, like he always thought he would be interrupting something with the show and competition.

that was never the case.

you could say they were both idiots.

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊

"harry!" nick grimshaw bursts into the room just moments after harry, wearing a grin on his face.

"hey!" he greets, giving his friend a hug. they both sit down, on opposite sides.

both are running late, though harry being the one busy with one direction and the new album he has an excuse. nick just had to stop for a drink from the cafe downtown.

"put your headphones on," he gestures to the set, and puts his own pair on as harry does the same. "running late. gotta go right on," he mumbles to harry before getting on the air.

harry smiles. he loves nicks radio interviews. they're good friends, and nick knows that asking the same questions over and over can get boring so he plays games instead.

"it's nick grimshaw here on bbc radio one in the morning. here with the one and only harry styles from one direction," he says.

"thanks for having me," harry purses his lips.

"anytime. so, since we've only got so little time today we are going to play a little game i like called 'call or delete'. you know how the game goes, yes?" he asks.

harry chuckles, because he knows this game never goes well. "yes," he nods anyway.

nick laughs, "alright. we're going to get rolling. what's going to happen for anyone who doesn't know how to play. is that harry here is going to scroll through his contact list. he's going to scroll slowly while I count to ten and when I say stop the number he lands on, he will either delete their number, or call them with something ridiculous to say," nick leans his elbows on the table, nodding to harry, who has his phone all ready.

"when you're ready," harry tells him, bouncing his knee. so nick counted down from three, and when shouting go harry started scrolling down his contact list, keeping his eyes off the screen for that would be cheating.

"stop!" nick exclaimed, a smile on his face as he watched harry look down on who he pressed on.

the curly haired man gulped, staring down at the screen. the contact name hasn't changed ever since he changed it right after he put it in his phone.

_cute boy from the toilet <3 louis_

he purses his lips, "it's an old friend of mine from the xfactor. haven't talked in a long time, though," he says, a small pout on his lips because, damn, he really wishes they kept in touch over the years. five years later and he still wishes the same thing. he almost texted him once a couple months ago. though he does that every couple of months. it'll be halfway through the year when he questions if louis'll still remember him.

"so are you going to call or delete them?" nick asks.

harry's stomach instantly drops. there's no way he can delete his number. he'll never get it back if he does. of course he could always tweet him, but he doesn't want louis to think he'd been stalking him. which he always has in some sort of not as extreme way.

"call," he looks up, "can't loose his number," he chuckles.

nick raises his eyebrows on suspicion, but then quickly makes something up for harry to tell his caller. "you have to... tell him that you're going to get a buzz-cut and you want to know what he thinks."

harry nods. it should be easy, he thinks. it's only the cute boy from the toilet he hasn't talked to in years. but here he is about to make his comeback by simply asking what he thinks about a haircut.

 _yeah, i'm fucked,_ he thinks.

but he presses call anyway, putting it on speaker and holding the phone close to his lips. it takes a minute for him to answer, and when he does harry almost drops the phone.

"uhm, uh, hello? is this really harry?" and harry's stomach drops _again_. he can't believe louis' voice. it's gotten deeper, but it's still got that higher pitch to it.

he smiles, "yeah," his throat is dry, and he has to clear it before coming back to the call, "uh, yeah, louis?"

"yeah, yeah, course. still me. uhm, been a while, hasn't it?" he chuckles nervously.

"yeah, it uh, yeah. but i've got- shush nick- sorry. i have to ask you something," a smirk grows on his face, and jesus christ he can't believe he's about to embarrass himself. "how do you feel about me going real short? like a buzz-cut. think it'd work?" he asks, holding his mouth afterwards to hold in his laugh.

the man on the other line doesn't even seem confused, "yeah, sure harr, that'd be sick. what's also sick is you trying to be serious because i can hear you laughing," he points out.

harry lets out a loud laugh, cupping his mouth instantly. "i wasn't even being loud," he chuckles.

"okay, but i can still tell whether you're being serious about something or not. might've been a long while but some things don't change," louis' smiling on the other end. he really is. his jaw hurts from it and his eyes keep squeezing shut in place of squealing because he can't dare squeal over the phone just because his longtime crush is talking to him. it doesn't help that it's been five years, so to finally hear his voice personally is nice.

"no, i'm a good liar!" the younger complains.

louis wants to face palm himself, "yeah, and we're both straight," he says sarcastically, and that causes everyone in the room to crack up laughing. harry, nick, and a couple of the other people who work there.

"that's fair enough, i think i lost, though so thanks for not letting my lie slide," he speaks, a fond smile on his face. nick gives him a signal saying that they've got to go, so he turns away from his mic. "hey, can i put you on hold for a second?" he asks.

neither of the two can believe they're actually talking as if they would years ago. but neither of them want it to stop. so, louis just says of course and harry puts him on mute while nick does his special outro sort of thing.

nick speaks up, "alright, well you are a horrid liar, harry. good to know for the future. and we've also got to go since our time here is up. join me tomorrow morning with a call in from olly murs. i'm nick grimshaw from bbc radio one, have a nice day," he says, then presses some buttons, and they're off the air.

"you like him," nick crosses his arms, leaning back in his chair.

harry pouts a bit, "i have since i met him, can i please talk to him?" he asks, bouncing his knee up and down. nick nods, as if he's his father approving of a date.

it doesn't even take him a minute before he's in the hallway. "i'm back," he says, holding the phone to his ear with a smile.

"hi," louis breathes.

harry sighs. he can't just avoid it forever. "okay, look. it's my fault i never got in touch. i was just scared and stupid and i'm sorry. i really wish i would've kept up with you and taken you out," he blurts.

by then louis is just laying on his bed, a big lazy smile on his face with his eyes closed. "it's fine. i was the same. always thought i'd be interrupting something with the show or your band or something. also i was rushing with things for Uni. so i closed myself off for a while like two weeks trying to perfect my acceptance essay," he sighs.

"what're you doing now? like for a career or whatever?" he asks.

"well, i just graduated Uni. in a couple of months ago. i teach drama so," he lays his head down on the bed.

"that's amazing. teaching and all," he coo's. and louis' about to say something, but he can't help but cut him off. "can we keep in touch? like for real this time?" he bites his lip, "don't wanna loose you for another five years. been too long," he mumbles the last parts, feeling sheepish.

Louis grins, "yeah, absolut- shit! fooking wall, this damn thing," he hisses, stringing curse words after another. "went to stretch and i pulled me arm back too far too fast," he grumbles.

harry just giggles. he can hear the other man trying to move around or move something around, and something makes a thud on the other line. "i knocked over a picture frame but i give up by now," he sighs, "oops."

harry gasps, "hi!" he bursts out, covering his mouth right after.

and he can only imagine louis sighing and rolling his eyes as he goes "haven't changed a bit, harr."


	2. Call Or Delete

harry wraps his arms around louis, pulling him close and hugging him tight. he breathes in his scent, smiling softly at the familiar smell of the smaller man. the wind is nipping at his neck, but he doesn't care. he just lets out a breath, rocking side to side as louis' arms snake around his waist.

"i should've called five years ago, i'm so so sorry," he sighs, pulling away. after getting a clear look of his face, the one he hasn't seen in person for a long time, he grins. "you're so small it's killing me," he sighs.

louis stammers, "uh, is that a bad thing? m'not that short, idiot," he defends.

harry just shakes his head, looking down on the man, "you are, but i love it. it's perfect," he says. then he stares at louis for a second, and the other man can't help but feel a bit self conscious. it's harry styles. former friends or not he'll always give louis some sort of nerves.

his hair is so much longer than it used to be. everything is different and puberty definitely did him very well. he's seen way too many pictures of him over the years, but seeing him in person is so much different. it makes him want to cry over how different he looks.

harry on the other hand almost does get tears in his eyes. louis is so fucking attractive. not only is he hot but he's so cute and small and he wants to just take him home and cuddle him forever. he's so much shorter than him, since five years ago he was the taller of the two. his voice is still high pitched but has a deeper sound to it. his thighs are thick and perfect and his arse is amazing and his hair and his eyes and his smile and everything about louis is just so so fantastic and harry has to hold himself back from freaking over him. it's not usually that way but with this boy everything seems to just change.

"how beautiful can you get?" harry shakes his head.

louis blushes madly, his cheeks going pink, "i uh.. i didn't think you were gay. cause like, the uhm taylor-"

"oh god no. she was just a publicity stunt. we don't do those anymore, though. never liked it," he shakes his head, "i'm bisexual. though i prefer men rather than women," he has a smirk on his face, and gestures for louis to lead him into the building. it's only a coffee shop on the corner of the block. not very popular, but it doesn't matter since it's only the two of them.

"so then you haven't been with _anyone_ in the past five years?" louis asks amused.

harry tilts his head, "not since you," he says, his voice soft. he brought up a topic that hadn't been brought up ever. not with his band mates, or his sister, or his mum or anyone. no interviews or shows. only his cat dusty on a late night back a couple of months after it happened.

louis bites his lip, his cheeks blushing as he looks down at the table.

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊

_louis had tears in his eyes, gathering his things from the house. he zipped up his bag, his fingers shaking a bit as he shoved his phone into his pocket. he let out a bit sigh, crying out silently as he wiped at his face with his palms._

_the door busted open, and a short curly haired sixteen year old burst through. his eyes were wide, and he was breathing hard. "i just... i just ran, took a cab. as soon as.. as i could," he said. louis bit the inside of his cheek, giving the boy a sad smile._

_"i- uh, i'm leaving soon. got a car coming in ten," he told harry, letting his arms fall to his sides._

_harry knew it was true. he knew louis was leaving and he didn't want to believe it but it was happening._

_he let his eyes tear up as he launched himself forward. his arms wrapped around louis' larger body and squeezed him so so tight. he didn't want to let go of his new best friend and crush of so long._

_louis pulled away, and took a quick glance at harry's face before pressing his lips to the younger boys. he cupped his face, and he was wishing so hard that it wasn't going to ruin things between them. but harry kissed back. god, he kissed back so quickly and louis was so relieved that he laughed into the kiss, and pecked his lips a various amount of times._

_harry pulled away, and louis tilted his head, "you're going to become so so famous harry styles. i'm going to go to uni and make a living and i don't want you to worry about me. everyone's going to love you, you little curly haired freak," he chuckled sadly._

_harry's lip wobbled. they were suppose to be in this together. they were suppose to be put into that band together and louis was leaving. "i'm so sorry," he whispered, "you were suppose to stay," he told louis, his voice small and his throat dry._

_but louis didn't know what to say. so he just hugged him again. tighter than before._

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊

"i still feel awful," harry sighs, "i'm trying not to think about it but you were suppose to be there with me and at the top of the world with us. i haven't stopped thinking about you since you left, you know," he gulps, "you never called me- a-and i know i could've called you too, but you didn't call either," he looks down.

louis bites his lip. he doesn't have a good explanation. it's shit. "i know," he mumbles, "i should've, and i could've so many times. i just thought i would get in the way of you and the show. i felt like i'd be annoying," he admits.

harry doesn't mind, though. he likes the confession. it's not the best reason, but it's better than he deleted his number, or that he didn't like him anymore.

"i had the same reason for you with school and uni and all," he says a bit awkwardly, "but can we kind of, like, start over? like not uhm.. not all the way, cause i don't want to forget what we had, uh but uhm, like-"

"i know what you're trying to say," louis smiles. and then his phone lights up with a reminder. and he frowns really hard, because he knew that this had to be a short meet up with harry due to his mum with his nan in the hospital and him having to help out and pick up his little sisters from school for her. especially since his students were off almost the whole week due to the snow.

"i have to go," he tells harry, eyes sorrowful at the younger boy. he stands up, shoving his phone into his pocket and pulling his jacket back on.

"wait, what?" harry stands, and when louis takes a few steps away from him towards the door he frantically grabs his wrist. louis spins around and harry pushes his lips onto the shorter mans.

louis gasps into harry's lips, his hands on his chest with one being held. he kisses back though, moving his lips with harry's and letting himself get lost in it. he hasn't had a boyfriend in so so long. the one guy that stan tried setting him up with didn't work, since he left the date early due to not being able to get over harry. but now he's back, and his lips are so much softer and smooth and experienced, and louis just wants to kiss him all day, slow and sweet like they are. but they're both loosing breath, and harry has to pull away, breathing hard just like louis is.

"i'm sorry if i did something wrong, just, please don't go," he tells louis, keeping his face close.

louis grins, "i only have to pick up my sisters from school. my mum isn't able to," he wants to giggle, because harry thought he was leaving because of him. it shows him that if he really was leaving harry that harry still feels the same. "but i'll make sure to keep in touch this time. i'm free all this week except for thursday and all next week after three," he speaks softly, smiling so so big.

harry lets out a breath, and chuckles, "okay, good. not letting you get away this time," he beams down at louis before giving him one more lingering kiss.

louis scrunches his nose in admiration as he leaves, calling out to harry from the cafe doorway. "i'm a high school teacher by the way, superstar!" he waves.

harry just grins. waving in response. and _wow_ he thinks. _wowowow_. because he _really_ can't let louis get away this time.


End file.
